FCC claims that Telnyx didn't do enough to stop apparent scam calls made using its voice service platform are factually wrong, the company said Wednesday. Telnyx said it "has done everything and more than the FCC has required for Know-Your-Customer and customer due diligence procedures." FCC commissioners this week approved a proposed $4.5 million fine against the company; it was the first commission-level action under Chairman Brendan Carr (see 2502040065). In a statement, Telnyx said the FCC traditionally has expected providers to take reasonable steps to detect and block illegal traffic, and now the agency wants to impose fines "for limited unlawful calling activity that Telnyx not only did not originate but swiftly blocked within a matter of hours." It said the agency is trying to introduce "an unprecedented zero-tolerance requirement on providers through enforcement action, in the absence of any defined rules informing providers what is expected of them."
The FCC’s draft notice of inquiry on opening the upper C band for commercial use acknowledges numerous incumbents using the spectrum and seeks “detailed and evidence-based comments” from all affected parties. Also on Thursday, the FCC released a draft NPRM on rules for the AWS-3 auction and other items, teeing them up for the FCC’s Feb. 27 open meeting, including new rules for wireless emergency alerts (see 2502050057).
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr laid out an aggressive agenda for his first meeting as chair, with two items on future spectrum auctions, including a look at the upper C band. The FCC will also tackle wireless emergency alerts and robocalls and ways of strengthening the call-blocking capabilities of carriers. In addition, commissioners will consider an NPRM on the volume of broadcast commercials.
Any NPRM that looks at new power limits on non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites should consider how the space industry and the assumptions underlying the original NGSO/geostationary orbit spectrum-sharing framework have changed, Amazon's Kuiper said. In a filing posted Monday, Kuiper recapped a meeting with FCC Space Bureau staffers where it presented four pages of suggested questions and topics for such an NPRM. It said the commission should ask about the level of protection GSO systems reasonably require and if the current equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits are the right ones for that level of protection. The FCC also should ask if the current EPFD limits overly restrict NGSO operations, Kuiper said. It should seek input on a new NGSO/GSO spectrum-sharing framework and on the best methodology for protecting GSO operations that use adaptive coding and modulation. SpaceX has petitioned for higher EPFD limits (see 2408120018).
Communications Daily is tracking the lawsuits below involving appeals of FCC actions.
Sinclair expects that local media segment revenue will be “down modestly” from its original projection of $936 million to $945 million, it said in a release Monday, preliminarily disclosing its Q4 earnings a month ahead of its Feb. 26 earnings call. The company said it now expects local media segment revenues to fall between $931 million and $933 million.” The decreased projected revenue will cross multiple categories, including political advertising and core advertising, the release said.
The Puerto Rico Telephone Co. (PRTC) updated the FCC on its work restoring copper networks following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. “Fixed telecommunications services in the areas served in network node 95000IP06 have been restored,” bringing nodes restored to 1,201, said a filing this week in docket 18-240. That includes 590 network nodes restored through deployment of fiber-to-the-home to replace copper loops, “which is more than four times the number of network nodes that PRTC originally had planned for restoration through FTTH.” PRTC noted that part of its restoration plan is to replace legacy connections with fixed broadband voice over LTE. “As PRTC has informed the Commission, the deployment of this fixed VoLTE-based solution was delayed significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent supply chain disruptions that affected the telecommunications industry.”
The FCC received feedback from space and wireless interests in docket 24-687 on selection of a space launch frequency coordinator (SLFC) for the agency's space launch service, and in docket 13-115 regarding licensing and frequency coordination procedures and data requirements. Comments were due Wednesday in both. The space launch spectrum allocation order adopted in 2023 (see 2309210055) requires that launch operators seeking to use the 2025–2110 MHz or 2200–2290 MHz band complete a frequency coordination process with a third-party coordinator.
An auction of AWS-3 licenses returned to the FCC by affiliates of Dish Network in 2023 is expected to start and possibly end this year, wireless industry experts said. In addition, the auction will offer unsold licenses from the initial Auction 97, the AWS-3 auction 10 years ago. The FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorized the auction, allows 18 months for it to be held. It would be the FCC’s first auction of spectrum for full-power licensed use since 2022, with part of the proceeds going to fully fund the FCC’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.